This invention relates to an hydraulic boat lift for lifting a small boat out of the water when not in use and safely supporting such boat above the surface of the water. In addition, the apparatus also lowers the boat gently into the water for use. More particularly, the invention relates to such a boat lift which is operated by water pressure supplied by a domestic water supply or a pump supplying water from the body of water in which the boat is moored.
It is frequently necessary, or desirable, that a boat owner elevate his craft above the surface of the water in which it is being used to protect the same during inclement weather, storms and the like, or to perform routine maintenance on the hull. Unfortunately, due to the complicated structure of conventional boat lifts, their expensiveness to fabricate, and the human energy which must be expended to operate the same, most boat owners have been unable to obtain a satisfactory boat lift which is not only easy to assemble but requires little exertion to operate.
Numerous boat lifts and floating platforms have been suggested in the past, as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,505,832 to Lange, 3,177,668 to Schneider et al., 3,559,606 to Gregory, 3,841,441 to Klinkhammer et al., 3,857,248 to Rutter, and 4,195,948 to Vancil. However, due to the complexity of such devices, and problems with their installation and operations, such devices have not been entirely satisfactory.
It thus has been an object of this invention to provide a mooring device for small boats, which device may rest upon the bottom of a lake or other body of water, such as alongside of a dock or the like, and which incorporates an hydraulically operated rectangular frame upon which a boat may be floated and thereafter lifted out of the water and held in a safe mooring position, wherein the boat is substantially unaffected by wave action.